Inmates begin their lives behind bars with a bedroll and a towel, a set of denim clothes, a comb, a toothbrush, a bottle of shampoo, two bars of soap, deodorant, a pen, paper and a handbook of Department of Corrections rules.

Fourteen prisons house 13,362 men and 1,270 women, their combined population greater than such cities as Happy Valley, La Grande and The Dalles. They live behind walls and countless miles of razor wire.

Prison officials recently opened the doors of three prisons to The Oregonian, offering a photographer and a reporter extraordinary access to prisoners and those paid by taxpayers to protect and manage them.

We talked to inmates in cells they call their "houses," and at dining halls, job sites, barbershops, canteens, infirmaries, recreation yards – even those sent to "the hole" for misbehavior. We toured chapels, day rooms, cellblocks and dormitories, getting a sense of day-to-day life inside.

Four out of five prisoners committed violent crimes and wear jeans stamped "INMATE" in orange. More than 1,500 killed someone, with 191 serving life without the possibility of parole. Thirty-five sit on death row, in a state that won't execute them by order of Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Prisoners divide, as many do on the outside, into racial and ethnic clans. Gangs often define these divisions. White-power groups predominate in a prison system that is 74 percent Caucasian. Crips and Bloods often run the affairs of African Americans, with Sureños and other gangs keeping Latinos together.

Societies spark to life inside the wires, policing their own, establishing rules and etiquette. Sometimes they impose brutal punishments. More often they support one another, because a bad day in prison is a very bad day indeed.

We're starting an occasional series on Oregon prisons with a look inside the wire. We'll follow with stories on specific programs and looks inside other prisons.

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